Spectre: Through Fire and Steel
by De4thstopper
Summary: Spectre is having issues. Even bigger issues than usual, in fact. He knows which path of life to take, but something seems to be dragging him back, almost as if he's missing a step. But then Professor Ozpin requests to speak with him and things start to take a turn... (Presenting the third story in the Spectre series, which continues where the last story left off. Enjoy!)


Author's note: As most of you guys probably know, the RWBY community has lost a great man. On the 2nd of February 2015, Monty Oum, writer, animator and ultimately the creator of RWBY, sadly passed away after a severe allergic reaction at the age of 33. I never was one to quote the words of others when referring to matters like these, so I would prefer to use my own to praise his life:

Despite many of us not knowing Monty personally, I think we'll all agree that a tiny part of ourselves died with him, leaving a hole however big or small, that may never be filled. Without RWBY - without Monty - the characters Spectre, Shadow, Sickle, Lyone, Giles, Knowles, Topaz and the many others to come, would never have existed. Without Monty, I never would have started the writing that I love doing so much. Without Monty, I never would have met the outstanding people of the fanbase, and made the friends that I have today. I've never been one to have heroes, but Monty was pretty damned close... No, he _was _my hero, and I've only realised that now that he's gone...

I have no doubt that he intended to to finish RWBY, so I shall follow in his example. From this day forward, unless death do me part, I vow to finish this FanFic to the best of my abilities.

I send my kindest sympathies to all the people who are mourning this extraordinary man: his friends, his family and his fans.

_**I hereby dedicate this chapter to Monty Oum: 'The Man Who Started it All'**_

_**We Will Remember**_

_**#HIM**_

* * *

><p>Chapter I: Just a Small Request...<p>

'_You want me to what?'_

A whirlpool of mixed thoughts. It had taken me a solid minute or two of sitting on my bed to come to that conclusion. That's what my visions had become; as recent events had revealed to me, there were many more factors to my life that I hadn't considered before now. They were swarming my head relentlessly, and it was a job and a half to shut them out for a short time. They even made the Arch-Grimm look like a minor problem if I was lucky. This wasn't true though, and I knew it; this so called '_Daemon_' was a threat to mortal kind, and so far, I had been the only one to realise that. Should things remain this way, then it shall fall to me and me alone to stop the coming tide.

Whenever my mind allowed me to do so, I would recall the things I saw at Grimm's Respite, every miniscule detail that I remembered could be key to its demise. I didn't dare view the footage from Shadow's memory card though, lest it bring back bad memories. After all, people got hurt last time…

But while I saw this as the right course of action, something must have been telling me otherwise. Whenever I sat down and tried to concentrate on the topic, I'd always get distracted by stray thoughts, the happenings at the docks being one of them. Yang had even given me some of her music from that boy-band she really likes. I think they were called 'The Achieve Men' or something like that. Not exactly my kind of music, it honestly sounded like they'd be better at playing video games than singing, but I'll admit that it helped to drown stray thoughts out a little. It wasn't enough though; nothing was ever enough…

On that bleak note, I decided that I should just get on with the day and see how things went. Sometimes you've just got to go with the flow I guess. I stood from my sitting position upon my bed and stretched upward, arcing my arms to my sides gradually. My left shoulder was still bruised heavily from a few days ago, and had been somewhat of a nuisance since. It was painful yes, but it wasn't something I'd moan about easily. Like I said, just go with the flow.

Then I turned to look at my room. Finally seeing sense, I requested that the room be refurnished and repaired, at my own expense of course. Everything had been cleared out bar my bed and the shelves. The walls had been re-plastered on the first day and I'm just waiting for the new furniture to come through now. It felt a lot emptier than before; it was cleaner, yes, but I don't think I recognised it as my own anymore.

Without the urge to punch anything this morning, I grabbed my scroll from the shelf and looked at the time. 3:36, around the usual for me. Something I wasn't completely used to yet though, was something that Yang and I called 'the punch bag run'. Every other morning, I would go out jogging and take the punch bag with me. At this point it served as more of a big heavy child for us to look after than something I beat and batter to pieces; Yang had even taken to cleaning its rough leather skin whenever it got dirty. I on the other hand, had to make sure it was used, and seeing as mounting brackets were apparently hard to come by, I ended up using it as dead weight to haul around. It helped with building body strength I suppose. It did keep Yang happy though, which in turn made me happy.

But I guess that was all the daydreaming I was going to get today, so I resorted to 'more jogging, less thinking'.

* * *

><p>I'd come to the conclusion that jogging no longer cleared my head. Well, not for long at least. Even now as I sat down for breakfast with my trusty punch bag to my right, those cursed pictures sprung to mind. Being the only one to even slightly appreciate my usual slurry, I felt bad for un-intentionally leaving it for several minutes at a time whilst I just sat there staring into space. On that note, I tore my conscience back into reality and took another sip from my pancakecardboard flavoured shake.

"Good morning Spectre." I turned to see a familiar red head smiling back at me, a water bottle in her hand. She was a little sweaty, but other than that, she was the champion we all knew.

"Morning Pyrrha," I greeted as she sat beside me, "Isn't it a bit early for you to be up and about?"

"Not for much longer it won't," she said, indicating to the running gear she was wearing, "I saw you out jogging so I figured that I could start too."

I raised an eyebrow. "You don't need it; you could probably fight for hours before losing your breath."

"Maybe. If anything, I'd draw the line at fighting you."

I faced her now. "That time didn't count, P. I didn't exactly have the most stable frame of mind that day."

"I know," she said, her tone softening a little, "And that's why I need to get better. If you had a clearer head, you could have beaten me a lot more tactfully."

I returned my gaze to my breakfast, considering the idea. Eventually I just grunted and took another slurp, those recurring thoughts fading into my mind again. Everything seemed to blur as my eyes glazed over and my hearing became muffled. You could say that it was almost trance like...

"Spectre?"

I blinked and everything suddenly returned to normal. I turned to Pyrrha, but when I spoke, I nearly spilled the contents of my mouth within my helmet. I held up a hand and swallowed, but it went down the wrong way and hurt my throat, leaving me to cough for air afterwards.

"You okay?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah..." I spluttered before clearing my throat, "I just... got a little distracted."

"Apparently you're doing that a lot lately. That's what the others said anyway..."

I sighed. "Look, I know you guys are worried for me, and I know it's only natural - but I'll be _fine_. I've always been able to pull through on my own, so I don't see why this isn't going to be an exception. It's my burden to bare and I will endure it."

Her expression turned to a mixture of pity and disappointment. "Well, if you say so..." she replied glumly, looking down at the table top. It was obvious that she thought otherwise. They all did. Team RWBY, the rest of JNPR, even some of the teachers let a little doubt show on their faces. That said, I guess anyone would need a little faith to prove otherwise and the only way they were going to get any, was through my actions.

"So," I asked, changing the subject, "Have I missed anything on your end?"

She stared at me for a moment, a little surprised at my inquest. "Well, it turns out that I may need you to cover Jaune's extra Grimm Studies lessons after all."

"How so?" I asked.

"The guy who I had covering it has sort of... gone quiet. I don't really see him too much and his team mates don't see him in class anymore..."

I nodded, trying to formulate some kind of conclusion. "What's his name?"

"His name is Zayne Phantos," she began, "He's a Wolf Faunus who used to live outside of the Kingdoms. He practically hunted Grimm to survive, so that's why I chose him over you..."

"I understand," I said before she could apologise, "Anything else?"

"Well, if you're interested; I'm sure he won't mind me telling you. His friend, the one he came here with, is now in a coma after a mission. From what I've heard from his team mate, he blames what happened on his_ other_ team mate and doesn't want to be around him anymore."

I nodded slowly. "So he's resigned from Beacon?"

"Oh, no," she replied, shaking her head quickly, "I don't think he'd do _that_. I think he just takes a lot of time off."

I looked back into my vomit-like meal, reflecting on things. His situation was very familiar to mine, so I could relate. When I voiced this to Pyrrha, she simply shrugged.

"That's why I told you; because I knew you'd understand."

I feinted a chuckle. "You've put some thought into this, haven't you?"

She smiled a little more. "I always do. I generally plan how things go when I talk to you." Then she paused, unsure whether to leave the comment where it was or not. She decided to continue though: "You can be a little..."

"Volatile?" I finished, "Don't worry, I get it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm sure P," I replied hollowly, "Like I said, I will endure."

With that, the red head put on another smile. I could tell it was fake though; only one or two people could ever understand me to that degree, and most of them were dead and buried...

"Speaking of endurance," she pressed, wanting to move on, "Jaune said he wanted to come out here and run with you."

"Is he sure?" I asked in surprise, "By the time he's done, his legs won't even know they're legs..."

"I know. I told him that, but he seemed pretty determined to try it. That's another reason why I'm here with you."

"Now that's more like the Pyrrha I know..." I muttered just loud enough for her to hear. "We'll need to start small rather than throwing him in the deep end; heroes aren't made in a day."

Pyrrha sat up a little straighter, as if a little proud of her next announcement. "I'm right ahead of you. I plan to take him out until I think he's ready for you. I'll spare you the details."

I smiled again. "Damn, we're good aren't we?"

She laughed a little at that. "Yeah... I guess we are." Then that triggered something and her eyes widened in realisation. "Oh! That reminds me, you know those rumours about advanced classes?"

How could I forget? Yang and Ruby were practically ecstatic about them, and so was the rest of the academy come to think of it. "Yes," I replied bluntly.

"Well, it turns out that they're true. Apparently some of the older students say that they are teaching us. Do you believe that?"

I finished off my breakfast quickly before answering. "I guess it make sense," I thought aloud, "Who's good enough to teach us though? I mean, if it's advanced classes, they're going to be exclusively for the best, right?"

She shrugged. "I guess that's true... I'm not entirely sure to be honest; people are keeping things close to their chest regarding these classes."

"So who did you hear this from?"

"You know Velvet, right? She's a Rabbit Faunus with brown hair."

"I haven't spoken to her before, but I've seen her around."

"Right, well apparently a friend of hers has been asked to teach by Professor Ozpin himself. That's very impressive." She wasn't wrong; being asked to do something like that by Professor Ozpin was a sign in itself. To be recognised by him was something that a lot of people could only dream of. Teaching never was my sort of thing, but I understood it well enough. "Uh, Spectre?"

"Hmm?"

Pyrrha released a short sigh. "You zoned out again, didn't you?"

"You know what?" I began, realisation dawning on me, "I think I just did... You were saying about teaching for the Professor."

"Yeah," she smiled, "I think you should do it."

"What, teach the advanced class?"

She nodded. "Yes. You do so well with Jaune and I think others could benefit the same."

"No," I spat out unintentionally.

Her face dropped. "But why not? People respect you; you'd be great at it."

"They respect me through fear, P," I protested, a new air of seriousness on my voice, "They don't know me like you guys do."

"I'm sure it's not like _that_... Why don't you just try? Then you'll find out for sure."

I hesitated, trying to come up with a good answer. Then I just decided to be honest. "Do you know why I came here in the first place? Why Shadow and I accepted the positions handed to us?"

Her face turned serious as she leaned in closer. "No. I guess it's not a simple reason, is it?"

I turned away from her and looked down onto the table. "Before Miss Goodwitch approached us about a year ago, we had the skill, the money and the friends to live our lives happily. But there was one piece missing." I looked to her again, her focused expression fixed to my visor. "We weren't normal. I'll admit that it was more of a thing that Shadow was concerned about, but after the time we spent at the Atlas Academy (insert name here), I started to feel the same. And now that she's... in a better place, I feel that it's down to me to make her dream become a reality."

I'm sure that something like that was hard to respond to; the silence that followed proved that. But just as I knew she would, she found her answer. "Wow... So, you think that teaching will set you apart even further from normal people?" She sighed. "It must be hard to be you; I'm sorry for pushing you..."

"Please don't be," I interrupted, "You were right to do that. I'm pretty sure that you've already gathered, but I can be as stubborn as a mule. A push like that is generally what I need for a kick-start."

"So you'll consider it?" Pyrrha asked, her face brightening up quickly.

"I'll _consider _it, yes."

There was that heart-warming smile again. "That's good enough for me. What's the time?"

I glanced at my scroll. "5:51."

"In that case, I'd better get going," she said as she rose from her seat. "It was nice to talk again."

I smiled. "Yeah, I'll see you on the sparring field P."

"See you later Spectre!" It wasn't long before she was gone without a trace. Damn, she was quick when she wanted to be...

It wasn't too long before I followed suit, I had weapons to check, a day to plan and my own head to combat. I sighed, "Let's get to it then..."

* * *

><p>"Sorry, you want me to what?"<p>

"Would you like me to repeat the question, Spectre?" Professor Ozpin asked in his usual bland fashion.

We were sat in his office, his desk barred between us and the gears grinding away from above. There was the familiar scent of coffee emitting from the steaming mug in front of me, the same mug that he was now drinking from as he awaited my response.

"Apologies again sir, I just got a little... distracted. Can you just start from square one please?"

He hesitated for no more than a moment, then made the faintest of nods. "If that is what you wish. Now, you came into my office not five minutes ago, asking about potential teaching opportunities for a select group of students. I assume that is correct?"

"Yes, that bit I remember," I said eagerly, "I didn't catch anything after that though."

"I see; allow me to enlighten you. The simple answer is no." I was actually surprised by that; knowing what teachers were like, they'd quite easily jump on this opportunity. But it was the bluntness of how he said it that intrigued me most, so I listened further. "This is because I have another task for you to complete."

"Okay..." I replied with uncertainty, "Go on."

He took another sip from his mug and clasped his hands together. "I would request that you forge a team."

I looked down to the table top and sighed before returning to the conversation. "Sir, with respect, I thought I made it clear that I didn't want a team. I don't want to be held accountable for the deaths of-"

"Spectre, I fear that if you do not conduct this, much more bloodshed will be at your feet," he cut off suddenly. The way his tone turned dark in an instant and the bluntness of his comment caught me off guard completely. Before I could inquire further, he continued. "Forgive my sudden outburst, allow me to explain. I too believe that the Daemon is a threat. Only when Professor Port informed me of the footage that you had recovered from Grimm's Respite, did I become aware of the danger that it poses to mankind."

I knew exactly where he was going with this and despite how much I hated it, I knew he was right.

"_You _have encountered it and survived to tell the tale, which means that _you _know the most about this new enemy. But you cannot fight it alone, your previous encounter proved that. _That _is why I ask you to do this; to risk the lives of few in order to save millions."

I couldn't think of what to say to that; there wasn't much out there that could shock me like that. There was just _so much _going on in my head; it felt almost impossible to do anything, let alone make a decision on the spot like that.

"I apologise, Spectre," Ozpin said, slumping back in his chair slightly, "but I do not see another option."

I guess that summed it up for me then; people had need of me, and I would answer. I couldn't help that I was back tracking though, losing the valuable progress that I had made over the last semester here at Beacon. "Shadow, I'm sorry," I thought skyward, or to where ever she was right now. I then sighed again and addressed the Headmaster. "What do you need me to do?"

I guessed he'd concluded that sugar coatings weren't going to help anymore, so he replied simply. "This is not a task for any ordinary group of individuals. For that reason, I have left the designation of team members to you. From there, you will train them for what is to come and lead them when the time is right."

"So you're saying that I can recruit anyone within the Academy?"

"I'm implying that you can recruit anyone _on Remnant_. I do not believe that Beacon holds all of the traits that you will require."

I think I was starting to get a headache just thinking about it. "The entirety of Remnant? That's not a small thing you're asking of me here, sir..."

"As I am well aware," he confirmed, bringing his scroll to bare. "For your convenience, I have prepared a list of potential candidates that you may or may not take into consideration. I will upload it to your scroll's personal database so that you may refer to it whenever you feel inclined to do so."

I nodded slowly. Well, at least it was a start... "What's the deadline for forming this team?" I asked.

"There is none, but be prepared to strike at any time. Also, be aware that your team will be officially recognised as students at Beacon once they have been selected."

"Why?" I questioned, "I mean, I don't really see the point of doing that."

"On the contrary, there is a perfectly good reason for doing so. There are many in this world who would intervene and view this movement as a threat. Secrecy is key here."

I slumped in my chair. "I see..." I won't lie and say that I wasn't trying to think my way out of this; I didn't know what would happen in the end. I didn't care about dying, my life was pretty much meaningless to me anyway, but I still wasn't sure. Then, as if against my own will, I stood. "I'd better get started then."

"Very well, Spectre," Ozpin replied, standing himself now, "Should you require assistance, do not hesitate to seek me out."

I nodded my thanks and made for the door. "What the hell am I getting myself into now?" I asked myself, keeping my voice low so mastermind behind me could not hear.

* * *

><p>Darkness fell quickly that night. It wasn't long before the rain started to roll in and students scrambled for the dorm building, their day to day shenanigans finished and their bodies fatigued. I too was in my dorm, contemplating as I always seemed to be. This time however, I had company in the form of the tall blonde that I was currently in an early relationship with. She was amazing, beautiful and witty; I was truly lucky to have her, as anyone would be. She was one of the few reasons that I held on in the world, one of the few things that I felt really mattered.<p>

Yang looked down at me. "You haven't spoken for a little while."

"I know," I said calmly, "I'm just thinking."

"Why are you lying down? You never do that."

"I know, I'm just thinking," I repeated, as if I was tape recorder.

For a moment she was lost from view, then I saw a flash of yellow as the back of her head slammed against my chest as if I were a pillow. "What'ya thinking about?" she asked playfully.

I shrugged. "Things."

She didn't like that. With a huff, she lifted herself off of me and sat up. "Sit."

"Yang..."

"Now."

"We're not having a repeat of last time, are we?"

"Not if you do what I say. Now sit up."

"Did I mention that I'm not a dog?"

"SPECTRE!" she said, just short of screaming. Recalling what happened the last time, I didn't want the refurbishing work to start all over again, so I did as I was asked. After that, she pulled me into a surprisingly soft hug. "You know that I worry about you, right?"

A part of me was sick of hearing this, but now that I thought about it, it was something that I'd just have to deal with. "Yeah..." I replied honestly.

"There must be so much in that head of yours; I don't know how you cope with it. You're just so canned up about things..."

"Hold on a minute Yang," I interrupted, pushing her away gently. "I don't feel that I need this, but if it makes you feel better I can speak my mind."

I noticed her face light up when I finished; it was nice to see. "You're really going to do that just for me?"

I put my arm around her and drew her close. "Of course I will."

She put on that lovely smile of hers. "You can be really sweet sometimes."

"Only when I want to be. Now, I'd get comfy if I were you."

She leaned her head onto my shoulder and shuffled on the spot a little. "Okay, now speak minion!"

"Don't push your luck."

"Oh, I intend to," she replied, sending a quick wink my way.

I chuckled lightly and dismissed the comment. Then I began. "You know the 'Arch Grimm'?"

"Mmhmm."

"Well, Professor Ozpin has asked me to build a kill team to fight it."

"Wow. That's a pretty big thing. Have you thought about who you wanna pick?"

I would have expected her to just straight out ask if she could join; I guess I was wrong in that respect. "A little. He hasn't given me any boundaries to choose from, so I can pick anyone in the world..."

"Oh... Okay, _that's _pretty hard."

"You don't say... He's given me a list of candidates for a start, but it's still pretty daunting."

"Uh huh..." Yang fell silent for the next few seconds, probably thinking of the right thing to say. She came out with this: "I'm not saying that you have to, but I'm always around if you need a hand, okay honey?"

I hesitated. "That's not what I'd expect you to say."

"I know, I just feel that this is one thing that you'd like to do by yourself."

I looked at her, adding a concerned tone to my voice. "I thought you wanted me to share more things with you..."

"I just wanna feel like I'm helping, that's all," Yang replied, moving her head to look back at me, "It's kinda my job now."

I smiled at that; something told me that she knew I was too. "Yang, you'll always be helping me. No matter how little you think you're doing, you'll be doing so much more from my side of things. And I'm so thankful for that."

Her stunningly lilac eyes glinted in response to the compliment, as if her heart had melted within her chest. "Awww Spectre!" She reached forward and pressed her lips against my helmet, right where my cheek would be. I was paralyzed for a short period; nobody had ever kissed me before, I didn't even know where to start from there. She then returned her head firmly to my shoulder and wrapped her arms around my waist. "You're the greatest guy I've ever met!"

* * *

><p>It wasn't too long before she left to join her team next door, plunging me back to the harsh world that was just about everything else that revolved around me. Before she left however, we decided to look at the list that the Professor had given me. The one at the top was the one that most interested us and the one we knew least about.<p>

"Number 1742..." I thought to myself. There was no picture, no other information, only a nav coordinate. I looked it up on the global GPS on my scroll and it pointed to a small cave entrance, not too far from the southern walls of Atlas... A cave that even on a map seemed awfully familiar from somewhere. _That's _what interested me so much; it seemed like I was being drawn into investigating that place.

My decision made, I packed my things and made a few calls as preparation for the day to come. As I sat cross-legged on my bed, I remembered the image of the three silhouettes at my side, a fierce fire behind us and weapons bared. "A group forged through the fires of conflict and the clashing of steel," I muttered to myself in reflection. Then I closed my eyes and relaxed into the seemingly peaceful state of meditation.

* * *

><p>Author's note (Part 2): Now that my contribution to remembering Monty has been said, I'll use this space to get some general things out there.<p>

So this chapter was a little slow paced, just to set the scene for the rest of the story. The next chapter is going to pick up though, so don't worry! It's also going to have a twist to it, so get ready for that too. And just a general update regarding my next project, I'm thinking of posting extracts for each of my story ideas in their respective categories, just to help voting for the poll along a bit. I'll get to it if I find some spare time.

That's about it for this time around; I did release this chapter earlier than planned, so the next chapter might be a while yet. Other than that, thanks for reading and see you later!


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